First Virginia Beach Tows Cars, Then It Goes After Bikes

Flickr.com photo

Things have really gotten bad in Virginia Beach, according to this news article...

First the city was towing people while they were at work. Some citizens got squeezed so hard they decided to take up biking.

So then what did the city do? You guessed it, they started seizing people's bikes. Not only did the city cut bike locks and haul off bikes on flimsy pretenses (like a complaint securing a bike to a tree might "hurt" the tree) but the people who lost their bikes had no notice, so they usually assumed their bikes had just been STOLEN.

What will they do next? Break people's legs so they can't WALK?

Let us not forget Virginia Beach also has signs reminding people not to cuss. Sounds like this town really needs 'em.

I am disappointed to learn about this stuff. I used to live in Luray, Virginia, and then Harrisonburg. Virginia Beach was the first (and only) place where I laid eyes on the Atlantic ocean. One of these days I'd like to get back to visit all the places where I used to hang out in Virginia. But it sounds like it's best to stay away from (as we called it) "Va Beach."

Getting The Word Out Plus "Corporate Sponsorship" (Well, Sort Of)

Photo by John Hoff
(Would you really expect to see "fine wine" in this place?)

The other day I was driving through the Mid Town area of St. Paul, when somebody started honking and waving at me. I looked to the left and saw a young guy giving me a big smile and an energetic "thumbs up."

He yelled out something, and I realized...

It was my metallic stick-on letters which had him excited and delighted. (GOT A TOWING HORROR STORY? WWW.TOWINGUTOPIA.COM)

So I waved back and nodded, like I was representing the beginning of a powerful growing social movement, oh yes, and I knew it.

Towing Utopia Dot Com. Rock on.

This is the first picture posted here with my sweet new digital camera. This piece of extremely useful equipment was given to me a couple days ago by a small town businessman who wishes to remain anonymous, but he is supportive of my "clean up the neighborhood" effort in North Minneapolis. (And, besides, he purchased a much newer camera)

"Don't do anything perverted with it, though," he admonished. "It's a CHRISTIAN camera."

I managed to establish, however, "perverted" didn't include taking pictures of crack-addicted prostitutes for the purpose of driving them off the streets. Good to know.

I'm pretty sure the businessman in question knows about this blog, too, since he and his spouse went all through the other blog (about North Minneapolis) and there are some links to this one.

The generous gift of a digital camera will support both blogs. The camera is sweet with easy-to-figure-out functions. Already I'm snapping and downloading in a heartbeat. My word, I just took this picture a little while ago while picking up Children's Claritin for my kid at CVS Pharmacy across the street, and already I can load up the photo like a snap.

Will modern wonders never cease? So why can't non-consent towing systems be improved and modernized? Why can't citizens get notice of an impending tow before somebody (oh, gee, for the sake of a convenient example) confronts a tow truck driver with a Remington 870 shotgun in North Minneapolis?

Another Argument For Electronic Towing Notification (Who Remembers Rental Car Info?)

I am always amazed and delighted by the way people transform their abusive non-consent towing horror stories into art, using photos and prose. Here is one from Boston which I found on Flickr.com.

The story which goes with this image...written by "Vida Insana," goes like this.

"I missed my flight. My rental car got towed. The impound lot owner clearly wasn't impressed that I was clueless about the make/model of the car. I could only tell him that it was gold colored! (Who actually remembers rental car info?) The tow fee and a ticket. Ouch. Pouring rain and 30 degrees. Yeah, real fun."

So what I take from this...you'd think the car rental companies would want to know when their vehicles get towed. You'd think there would be a relatively easy electronic notification process, and the rental company would be able to quickly contact the renter and let them know how to find the vehicle. Or, BETTER YET, there could be a way to let people know to hurry up and move their car BEFORE they get towed.

Nothing says "out of towner" like a rental car. And nothing says "I'll never come to your crummy city again" like a bad towing experience in an unfamiliar metropolis.

Tow Truck Driver Confronted With A Shotgun In North Minneapolis During Spring Street Cleaning

Photo By John Hoff, yard in North Minneapolis
(Can you spot the flying donkey?)

If there was ever an argument for giving citizens electronic notification before towing their vehicles, it would be something like this...

The incident happened on Wednesday, April 30, 2008, at 3221 Lyndale Avenue North. This is just a block or so north of where I own property and do extensive "block watch" activity. So I learned of the incident because I get "Fourth Precinct" email updates, though all these updates are also posted on a website. So this tow truck incident was routinely posted, but I guess only somebody like me (completely obsessed with non-consent towing issues) would see it as anything more than more senseless violence in North Minneapolis.

The man arrested (the owner of the vehicle) was Robert Tuggle, age 22, a white male with (get this!) NO PRIOR POLICE HISTORY.

Normally, when reading about these North Side incidents, one sees the suspects have extensive police histories. Take, for example, Earnest Boyd, arrested in a crack incident a block away, who has a total of 87 "CAPRS" on his record. (Computer Assisted Police Report System...or something like that) Basically, this guy has had the cops called on him 87 times. Quite a record, but normally with these North Side arrests one sees a few dozen CAPRS.

But Robert Tuggle? Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Tuggle has never had the cops called on him before, at least not something recorded by CAPR.

According to the cryptic report, it was 8:30 in the morning and a tow truck driver was towing vehicles for street sweeping, hooking up when Robert Tuggle came out. Tuggle "racked" and then pointed a Remington 870 shotgun at the tow truck driver.

Though the report doesn't actually say it, one presumes the tow truck driver unhooked the vehicle in question and left the area. Officers came back, arrested Tuggle, and took his gun.

Clearly, Tuggle was in the wrong. But try explaining that to Tuggle. In North Minneapolis, you can be living in a house illegally--squatting, basically--and it takes WEEKS for the legal process to evict you, with a notable degree of care and concern about notifying you in regard to your rights and property.

But authorities can just come along and seize your car without notice.

What gets you to a job and helps you earn a living? Your car. Where will you live if you get thrown out of your house in North Minneapolis? Your car. What object is all tangled up with your very sense of personal identity, even more than (for example) a Remington 870 shotgun? That's right, your car.

For god's sake, Minneapolis. Find a way to give citizens electronic notification of an impending tow, before some tow truck driver gets shot dead on the street. Really, one could take an incident like this as a warning and work to prevent something much worse.

"I guess the city is in violation of its own ordinance"

Photo by John Hoff, near campus, contruction
of new TCF Stadium in background.

Tom Dahlberg at the Humphrey Institute sent me this little missive on April 23, which I thought I'd get posted before I start digging up innumerable Minneapolis-St. Paul horror stories on personal blogs and in the dark virtual nooks and crannies of chat rooms, editing this stuff for spelling and grammar, (of course) and tossing it up right here, baby.

Here's what Tom said:

"Street sweeping day is tomorrow for another street near me. It is 8:45 a.m. and there are no signs yet. Gee, I guess the city is in violation of their own ordinance to post 24 hours in advance."

Here's what I have to say to Tom:

"Go out there and make a citizen's arrest. See where that gets you."

(Do not click "Read More")

Better Towing Information Systems Needed For "Get Your Stuff Back"

State Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, out of touch with reality.
(Image from a state government website, here under "fair comment and criticism")

I'm really interested in the fate of the "get your stuff back" bill, which means towing companies in Minnesota must allow the owners of impounded cars to, obviously, get their stuff back.

Though progress of the state transportation bill is complicated and I'm not sure where it is just right this second, one thing is clear...

And that is "get your stuff back" is a popular provision of the bill. An attempt to kill the provision with a hostile amendment FAILED. The hostile amendment was proposed by Rep. Tom Hackbarth, Republican, Cedar, who argued towing companies will be "stuck with junker cars" if owners are allowed to collect personal belongings from them, and towing companies will become "mini-welfare programs."

He also argued many towing companies already allow people to gather needed items from impounded cars. This argument by Hackbarth sounds completely bogus and out of touch with reality, like his argument companies will be "stuck with junker cars."

In fact, supporters of "let people get their stuff" pointed out junked cars have tremendous scrap value, a point that was rather obvious, except perhaps to Hackbarth who seems completely out of touch with ordinary human reality.

He was apparently out of touch with POLITICAL reality, too, because his suggestion to drop "let people get their stuff" failed by (as HometownSource.com described it) "a wide margin."

You really have to wonder who is stuffing what into Hackbarth's back pocket.

But here's the kicker, and it's funny Hackbarth couldn't come up with this point and find a way to twist it to his advantage: clearly this law, when passed, will push us in the direction of needing better towing information systems. People can't GET THEIR STUFF if the system can't FIND THEIR CAR, like the horror story told in the previous entry by Martin Rugeroni.

Minnesota Daily Exposes "Towing Overkill" In Minneapolis

Photo by John Hoff, Dinkytown

Though taking an objective and even-handed tone, one can't help but notice how Joy Petersen's final article in Minnesota Daily exposed the overkill towing in Minneapolis, especially near the University where it is assumed student renters have no political power and won't fight back, even in (good lord) an election year!

I took things beyond the article and talked, myself, to one of the sources...

...to get his horror story. Here is what Martin Rugeroni says happened.

I was actually pretty (expletive) when I couldn't find my car and I found out it was towed without letting me know. I saw the signs (for street cleaning) Sunday night as I drove around for about 15 minutes trying to find a parking spot as close to my house as possible. When I finally found one, I thought I wouldn't have a problem because there were many other cars parked there as well.

The next day when I came back from class at around 5 in the afternoon I got my keys and went to bring my car in front of my apartment and why I got there it just wasn't there anymore.

I got really nervous and my first thought was that it got stolen. I tried to talk to people on the street to see if someone saw something, trying to find out if it was OK to park there or not, but nobody could help me.

So I started looking for towing company numbers and called them one-by-one until one finally told me if it was on the street it was probably the City of Minneapolis who towed it. I gathered information from on-line and called them.

For the first two hours or so nobody could help me out and one of the guys on the phone told me I should report it stolen because they didn't have it registered. Finally I decided to give it one more chance and call again after 30 more minutes went by. NOW THEY ADMITTED HAVING MY CAR and I had to ask a friend who was having a nice dinner with his girlfriend to give me a ride.

I got there and first they couldn't find it in their system AGAIN. So I got very nervous, but after a while they finally did find it and I had to pay almost $140 bucks to get it back, not counting the ticket I got.

They drove me to my car and I finally got back home.

Towing without a previous notice is something that should be changed because people don't have the money or the time to lose in something like this. If they are going to clean the streets they should allow parking in places where you usually can't park since they just TAKE AWAY HALF THE PARKING SPOTS THAT EXIST, so where are we suppose to park our cars?

Signed Martin Rugeroni
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My photo shows the Loring Pasta Bar in Dinkytown. Bob Dylan used to live on the second story. He also wrote for the Minnesota Daily.